Alkylene oxide is commercially important and manufactured in large quantities by partially oxidizing alkylene with an oxygen containing gas over a suitable catalyst at elevated temperatures and pressures (e.g., 2 to 25 atmospheres). The alkylene oxide is separated from the gaseous reaction effluent containing unreacted alkylene, oxygen, and other gaseous components of the reaction mixture (e.g., carbon dioxide, inert gases). Separation is typically achieved by scrubbing the alkylene oxide from the gaseous reaction mixture by means of water, which results in a gaseous reaction effluent and an aqueous alkylene oxide solution.
Recovery of the ethylene oxide from the gaseous reaction effluent can involve an initial water absorption step, followed by a stripping step, which is in turn followed by a reabsorption step. In some instances, each of the steps is carried out in separate distillation columns, which can lead to high equipment costs and safety concerns where areas of concentrated vapor phase or liquid phase ethylene oxide exist. One exemplary area where concentrated liquid phase ethylene oxide can exist is when vapor phase ethylene oxide coming out of the top of an ethylene oxide stripper is condensed, giving liquid ethylene oxide. The liquid ethylene oxide produced in the stripper can be transported to another piece of equipment to be further refined. However, handling and/or transporting concentrated ethylene oxide, for example, liquid ethylene oxide, can be dangerous due to the risk of contamination since contaminated liquid ethylene oxide can lead to a runaway polymerization which generates heat and can be explosively violent. As such, avoiding and/or alleviating the areas of concentrated and/or contaminated liquid ethylene oxide can increase safety in the recovery of ethylene oxide.